No. 6 Best Place to Launch a Career
Kansas City ranks sixth among the 15 Best U.S. cities to launch a career. Rankings were based on affordable housing and strong starting salaries.
Linkedin, June 2020

Jill_Color_0730_web

Jill McCarthy

Senior Vice President | Corporate Attraction
816.591.1834
With more than 25 years of experience, Jill leads the business development team.

Global Design + Build

Kansas City is a worldwide nucleus of architecture, engineering and construction industry expertise and success driven by a backbone of innovation. The KC region has a beneficial foundation in place to propel new technologies and the industry to a higher standard of excellence. Select KC headquarters include Bartlett & West, BHC Rhodes, Black & Veatch, BNIM, Burns & McDonnell, Centric, Clark Enersen Partners, CRB, GBA, Gibbens Drake Scott, Henderson Engineers, HNTB Companies, Hoefer Wysocki, JE Dunn Construction, McClure Engineering Company, McCownGordon Construction, Olsson, PGAV Architects, Populous, Terracon, TranSystems, and U.S. Engineering Company.

 

KC Architecture & Engineering Jobs
Number of KC Companies in Top 50 Global Design Firms
17,161 (7th largest concentration in the U.S.*)
 3 (Most of all U.S. metros)
Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW 2019
*Of those metros with A&E employment over 5,000.

 ENR, 2021

Labor Snapshot


Title

2021
Employment

2021
Median Wage

2021 KC Concentration Compared to National Average

TOTAL Architecture & Engineering
Occupations
 18,880 $77,730  107%
Architects, Except Landscape
& Naval
 1,230 $78,310   170%
Civil Engineers  3,600 $79,130   164%
Electrical Engineers  1,940 $97,410  145%
Electronics Engineers,
Except Computer
 790 $102,080  103%
Environmental Engineers  360 $77,250  118%
Industrial Engineers  2,070 $85,500   98%
Mechanical Engineers  1,790 $78,640   89%
Architectural & Civil Drafters  810 $59,330  111%
Electrical  Electronics Drafters  240 $64,290   157%
Mechanical Drafters  610 $59,830  176%
Civil Engineering Technicians  1,030 $47,820   123%
Electrical & Electronics
Engineering Technicians
 950 $60,590  129%
Industrial Engineering Technicians  140 $53,860  32%
Mechanical Engineering Technicians  110 $61,980  38%
Surveying and Mapping Technicians  340 $47,750  84%
**175% concentration means KC employment is 75% more concentrated than the U.S. average
Source:  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment, May 2021.

*Click above to see occupational data

Global Impact

Kansas City is a global center of excellence and a destination for talent in architecture, engineering and design technology. The KC region is one of the top five largest concentrations of architecture and engineering employment in the nation. Firms here have global impact by exporting top-notch design services and product engineering spanning all sectors. With a long history of innovation, KC firms launched the movement toward sustainable buildings and introduced innovative metal fabrication. Kansas City area firms are leaders in designing power, telecommunications and transportation infrastructure around the world.

How the KC Region Leads the Way

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In the last 10+ years, architecture and engineering services grew by 24 percent in the Kansas City metro, compared to only 9 percent for the U.S.

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The largest 19 architecture, engineering and construction companies headquartered in the KC region represent $14 billion in annual global revenue―putting that into perspective, the top 225 design firms in the U.S. had a total of $144 billion in project revenue in 2017.

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Close to 75% of modern American sports architecture originates in the Kansas City region.

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Companies in the KC region designed water systems for 20% of the world’s population.

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KC is home to 4 of ENR’s Top 150 Global Design Firms―second most of all other U.S. metros―and 11 of ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms.


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For more information contact:

jill_color_0730_webJILL MCCARTHY
Senior Vice President, Corporate Attraction | KCADC

m: 816.591.1834
E-mail  LinkedIn  Twitter


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